From the preview I really had no idea that Noto Mamiko’s character is playing a private detective. The preview gave very little information and it gave mostly stimulations to the viewers, with Mamiko-chan’s breathy voice as the narrator. Onto the review of the actual first ep.

I gotta tell ya, I’m kinda hooked. Even without all that flare that Ergo Proxy tried to show, or the big action scenes that GitS offers with some heavy concepts on the side, this show still offers solid elements right for older people to watch. No teenage angst, no high school drama, no pointless moe elements ruining plots, no pretentious supernatually powered protagonist being all traumatized, no huge breasted women fighting over some guy. None of that.

Instead, what we have is a sexy thriller that deliver concepts that could come out of B films, but very nicely shot B films nonetheless.

As many Japanese works before it, it’s a mix of undead, genetic manipulation, pain, torture, women against women, and all that.

Our heroine, Rin, drinks, fights, and thinks like a hardboiled detective, but her voice simply doesn’t make that work. I think her as a softened up major (GitS).

She’s an immortal character who has stumbled into a certain scientific research that involves human genome manipulation and resident evil like zombies. Oh, and don’t forget her enemy of the first episode, Sayaro, who’s like a goth torturer with piercing fetish – on her victim, that is.

But that won’t work against an immortal. I wonder if the only way to kill Rin is to cut off her head?

As GitS, this show’s animation is impeccable. All movements are real and well-choregraphed, and the characters are hardened, mature adults, well, except Kugiyama Rie’s Mimi. The music perfectly represents the left over tail of 80’s music – the early 1990’s in Japan, which is where the story takes place. As Rin, Mimi, and others who are immortal, I get the feeling the era will change. I don’t know.

The show hooks me with the right amount of fan service, adult interactions (I mean like people over 20 interacting), not quite fresh but still interesting plots about cloning and conflicts between the bounty hunter and the detective, and some odd Japanese-style supernatural elements added in. I’ll definitely watch it again when the next episode comes out on March 2nd.

One last thing, this show definitely tries to play like a regular TV series. It’s 45 minutes long without the commercials, which is like a regular hour-long drama on American TV. I’d say the pacing works just fine and I wasn’t bored at all. This could very well be an American Sci-Fi show.

Or a B film with big budget that plays late at night. But thanks to the seiyuu, I’m going to rate this one very high and I enjoyed it.

Zhong – Yeah, it’s a plot device. This is also similar to Highlander in a way where Rin is a immortal. This would really be a just an excuse for violence if she doesn’t have any fatal weakness.

Zeroblade – no it definitely is not a bad thing. I think that device doesn’t affect the mature themes and value of watch of this show. This kind of portray women being unrestrained and harboring dark secrets in a society where they must appear to be soft, cheery and unemotional. It’s the stuff that men have always been fascinated with.

JKTrix – Sayaro is missing. It doesn’t show that she’s definitely dead. I’d want her back with immortality as well.

It’d be so cool if all these ladies can only be killed when their heads get cut off…oh wait, that’s highlander. And in Claymore women already have swords.